disability communication

Posters for the “I’m Not Your Inspiration” awareness campaign by the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities. In one, a portrait-style photo of a boy is juxtaposed against an orange backsplash with text that reads: I’m Not Your Inspiration (I’m Your Classmate).

In a column for Phi Delta Kappan, a professional journal for teachers, Silverman discusses the challenges of reporting in schools and the ways in which journalists still far short when it comes to telling relevant and nuanced stories about people with disabilities. Read more of Amy Silverman’s column online.

Learn about the concept of “inspiration porn” in this video of journalist and comedian Stella Young’s talk at TEDxSydney:

The National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University has released its popular disability language style guide in Spanish.

The NCDJ, which is headquartered at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, provides guidance and support for journalists and communications professionals as they write about and report on disability issues and people with disabilities.

The style guide was recently updated to contain nearly 200 words and terms commonly used when referring to people with disabilities.

“The guide is used around the world but until now has been available primarily in English,” said NCDJ Executive Director Kristin Gilger, the senior associate dean at the Cronkite School. “The new Spanish-language version will make it possible for us to reach far more people with advice on disability-related language choices.”

She said the guide is not prescriptive. Instead, recommendations are intended to help communications professionals avoid offensive language while also being clear and accurate.

The Spanish translation of the guide was made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation, which provides support for NCDJ programs and services.

In addition to the style guide, the center administers an annual contest recognizing the best reporting on disability in the country and provides training and resources for journalists, public relations professionals, educators and others concerned about how people with disability are portrayed.

Both the English and Spanish versions of the disability language style guide are available in downloadable format at https://ncdj.org/style-guide/.

The Society of Professional Journalists recently highlighted the NCDJ style guide on its website.

Earlier this week the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) featured our disability language style guide on its Journalist’s Toolbox website, which highlights digital resources to help journalists in their reporting. As the SPJ site points out, a Spanish-language version of the NCDJ style guide is now available on NCDJ.org. Journalists can access the guide in both languages on our website.

The Ford Foundation has produced a short video that shows why disability rights are central to social justice work. You can read more about the Ford Foundation’s policy about including disabled people in their work here. To watch the video on the Foundation’s Facebook page, click here.

Do you love writing, language and disability communication? Then check out our newest version of the NCDJ “Terminology Quiz” to test your knowledge of disability lingo. Even if you identify as a person with disabilities or work for and with people with disabilities you may be surprised which phrases are gaining popularity. For further reading, check out our complete “NCDJ Disability Language Style Guide.”

About NCDJ

People with disabilities make up at least 19 percent of the U.S. population or 54.4 million people. The goal of the NCDJ is to provide support and guidance for journalists as they cover people with disabilities.

Newsletter

Disability Reporting Contest

More than 150 journalists from around the world entered the 2018 Ruderman Awards for Excellence in Disability Reporting. The NCDJ received entries from the United States, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Philippines, Zambia, Egypt, Somalia, Nigeria, Spain, and Ghana.

Facebook Live

Author Amy Silverman talks about her book, "My Heart Can't Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love and Down Syndrome", as well as reporting on disability, and media representation.